Heads-up notifications on Android is a very useful feature. While this setting is on, you get heads-up notifications on the top of your screen for a small duration, thus saving you the effort of viewing them from the notification drawer every time. Though you may turn off this setting completely, there is no way to turn it off for only some particular apps. Having said that, there are phones out there like the Galaxy S8/S8+ and the OnePlus 5 which have a game mode that can block them for selected apps. However, if you use stock Android or any other skin that does not feature such a mode, here is how to block Android heads-up notifications in any app:

Prerequisites to Block Android Heads-Up Notifications

Before we learn how to block heads-up notifications while in games and video apps, there are a few things that you will require in the process. Here is a list of those things for a seamless procedure:

• Download Tasker (7-day trial, $2.99) and one of its plugins called SecureTask (free).
• Depending on your device OEM, first download the USB drivers and then install them. If you are unsure of how to go about that, the same link has the guidelines for that.
• Download the ADB Binary files according to your platform.
• Download a software like WinRAR to extract compressed files and folders.
• Enable Developer Options on your Android device. You can do this by going to Settings –> About phone, and tapping 7 times in succession on “Build number”.

Note: I am using a computer with Windows 10 Pro and a rooted Moto G3 with a custom ROM and Android 7.1.1. The following method can work with any non-rooted device as well.

How to Block Android Heads-Up Notifications in Games or Video Apps

When you think of any system tweaks that are not natively provided by Android, the first thing that comes to your mind is Tasker. It is a great app that lets you customize your phone beyond what you can imagine – and most of them don’t even require a root access. Once you have taken care of the prerequisites, you can proceed with the steps mentioned below.

• In your phone, go to “Developer options” and enable “USB debugging”. In some devices, this may appear as “Android debugging”. You will be prompted for a confirmation. Tap on “OK” and then plug in your phone to your computer.

• On your computer, extract the ADB Binary files in a folder. I extracted it on my desktop. Now open this extracted folder and while holding the Shift key, right-click anywhere on the screen. You should now see an option called “Open PowerShell window here”. Click on this.

Note: If you are not using the latest build of Windows, this option would be called “Open command window here”. Also, you can open up Terminal on Mac to complete the same process. 

• In the PowerShell/Command Prompt window, type “adb devices” and hit enter. If this was the was first time you did this, you’ll get a prompt on your phone. Tap on “OK” to allow it.

• Again type “adb devices” in the PowerShell window on your computer followed by hitting enter. This should now list your phone as an attached device. If it doesn’t, the drivers didn’t get installed properly.

• Now, on your phone, go to Settings –> Accessibility –> Tasker. Toggle this on, as this will be needed by Tasker in order to recognize the app in use.

• After you do this, open SecureTask and grant all the permissions it requires. Now, back on your computer, in the same Windows PowerShell/Command Prompt window, type “adb shell” and hit enter. Follow this by execution of the following command:
  

  pm grant com.balda.securetask android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

• Go back to your phone and open Tasker. Under the “Profiles” tab, tap on the plus icon on the bottom-right of the screen and then choose “Application”.

• From the list of apps that you see, select the ones for which you want to block the heads-up notifications, and then go back. I selected Subway Surfers on my phone. When you come back to the Profiles tab, tap on “New Task”.

• You’ll now be prompted to name it. As it is optional, you can choose to skip it. Finally, tap on the check mark displayed on the screen. In the following “Task Edit” screen, tap on the plus icon to add an action.

• From the action category list, select Plugin –> Secure Task –> Secure Settings.

• In the “Action Edit” page that follows, tap on the edit icon against “Configuration”. The icon will be shaped as a pencil. You may get a warning after this. Ignore it and tap on “OK” to continue.

• You’ll now land on the configuration page for SecureTask. Here, change the “Action” to “Write”. Now input “New value” as ‘0’ and type the following in “Setting”:
  

  global heads_up_notifications_enabled

• When you save this, go back to the main screen of Tasker, and under the Profiles tab, long press on the text written on the right-hand side of the green arrow. From the menu that appears, tap on “Add Exit Task”. Again, you can choose to name this task and then tap on the check mark.

•  Now, similar to the previous steps, tap on the plus icon to add an action, go to Plugin –> Secure Task –> Secure Settings. While editing configuration, again change “Action” to “Write”, and enter the same value as above in “Setting”. The only change in this step is to enter the “New value” as ‘1’ instead of ‘0’. Save this before finally going back to the main screen of Tasker.
  

Now the next time you open any of these apps (Subway Surfers in my case), the heads-up notifications would be blocked automatically. And when you exit the app, they’ll be enabled again. If you ever want to add or remove any of the apps to this list, you can do that by tapping on the list of existing apps under the created profile.

Disable Heads Up Notifications to Play Games and Watch Videos Conveniently

Given that how irritating it can be to get notifications on your screen when you are playing on a game or watching a video, it only makes sense to block them. But the only option you’ll find in your phone’s settings is to block them completely – for all the apps. However, now that you have read this article, you can now block them for any particular app that you want. Apart from the aforementioned method, is there any easier method that you know of? Do let me know in the comments section below.

This tutorial was first posted on XDA Developers. We tried it out and it works without any problems.

Snapchat is a great app that lets you send self destructing images and videos to your friends. It becomes way more interesting, if you are connected to more of your friends, interesting people and celebrities on Snapchat. If you haven’t yet installed Snapchat, install it from from here (iOS, Android).

Here is a step by step tutorial on how to find people on Snapchat

1. Open the app and swipe down. Tap on the ‘Add friends’ option.

2. A new screen opens up that shows two options for adding friends on Snapchat.

• Either you can add people by typing their username.

• Or you can add people from your phone’s address book.

If you know Snapchat username of the person you are trying to connect to, type their username and add as friend by tapping on plus sign.

If you don’t know the username, you can ask their username via Whatsapp, Facebook or Twitter.

If you are trying to add someone famous, you can find their Snapchat username on their Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

You can also add friends from your phone’s address book. Just tap on ‘Add from Address book’ option and on the next screen you can tap on ‘continue’ to proceed.

Snapchat will once again ask you to confirm. Once you confirm, it will take you to the next screen.

Now, you will start seeing your contacts who are on Snapchat. You can add them directly by tapping on the ‘plus’ sign adjacent to their name.

For the contacts who are not on Snapchat, you can invite them too.

Bonus: Add Friends via QR Code

Apart from the above mentioned ways of adding people on Snapchat, there’s one more unique way.

Let’s say you met someone at the party, and you decided to connect with him on Snapchat. Instead of asking for the username, all you have to do is to open snapchat on your phone, and point it to the ghost icon of other person’s snapchat. Tap on screen once, and you’re connected.

The Ghost icon works as QR code and every user has their own QR code. You can take screenshot of the ghost icon of your profile and share it among your friends on other social sites. They can point their Snapchat on the QR code to add you. Simple, isn’t it?

So, that’s how you find and add people/friends on Snapchat. If you face any difficulty, feel free to ask in comments.

SEE ALSO: 18 Amazing Snapchat Tricks

A dedicated Game Mode was one of the most talked about features in the Windows 10 Creators Update, which was released in April 2017. Microsoft claimed that enabling Game Mode will bring a noticeable difference while playing games, but you might be thinking how exactly does this process work, so let me explain this to you. Game Mode allocates the available hardware resources to a game by prioritizing the game and thereby preventing other background tasks from utilizing too much of the resources. This in turn, ensures a consistent frame rate while playing games in addition to very minor performance boosts. We’re pretty sure that you’re excited about this feature already, so let me get this straight by explaining how you can use Game Mode in Windows 10:

Enable Game Mode In Windows 10

Note: Game Mode is a feature that was introduced in the Windows 10 Creators Update, so you need to have that installed. I’m using Game Mode in Windows 10 Build 1703 Insider Preview. 

Before you can start using Game Mode for all your favorite games, you need to turn on the feature in settings. Simply follow the steps below to easily get it done:

• Go to Start Menu and click on the gear icon, so that you can go to “Settings”.

• Now, in the Settings page, go to the gaming section by clicking on “Gaming”.

• Once done, you can easily go the “Game Mode” menu and turn it on by moving the slider.

Enable Game DVR In Windows 10

Well, we’re not quite ready yet. In order to use the Game Mode that we just enabled, we need to turn on Windows Game DVR as well.

In order to do this, type “Xbox” in the Cortana Search bar. Once the Xbox app opens, go to Settings -> Record game clips and screenshots using Game DVR and move the slider to enable it.

Using Game Mode In Windows 10

We’re all set up now, so if you want to start using Game Mode for one of your favorite games, just open it up and simply follow the steps below:

• Now that you’ve enabled Game DVR in the previous step, you’ll be able to open Windows 10’s Game Bar by pressing on “Win+G” keyboard shortcut at the same time. Once the Game Bar opens up, click on settings icon in the Game bar.

• Then, click on “Use Game Mode for this game” to enable Game Mode for the game.

That’s pretty much the entire process, but keep in mind that you will have to do this individually for all the games you have on your library.

SEE ALSO: Windows 10 Fall Creators Update: All The New Features and Changes

Ready To Try Out Game Mode in Windows 10?

Game Mode might not really bring a huge boost to your gaming performance, but it really helps in providing you with consistent performance, which is absolutely crucial while playing fast-paced games like first-person shooters. There might be a noticeable improvement if you were accustomed to frame rate drops during gaming sessions, but that completely depends on the hardware you’re using. Apart from that, you can expect an improvement of 1-2 average fps on some of your games. So, are you guys ready to try out Game Mode? Do let us know if Game Mode has improved the gaming performance on your PC, by shooting your views in the comments section down below.

Star Wars: Battlefront II is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated AAA gaming titles of the year, and with Star Wars: The Last Jedi on the horizon, my excitement for this game has reached an all-time high. Sure, I’ll admit the fact that the original Battlefront was mediocre at best, but this time around, EA & DICE have played smart by adding a promising single-player campaign. As a player, you'll be able to customize and upgrade your heroes, starfighters and troopers with abilities that you can exploit in battles.

This epic first-person shooter is all set to be released on November 17th, but you can access it right now even if you haven’t purchased the full game. In order to start playing right away, you need an Origin Access subscription if your preferred platform is PC or EA Access subscription if your preferred platform is Xbox One. The subscription can be availed at either $4.99 on a monthly basis or $29.99 on a yearly basis. Such a subscription based service is not available for the PS4 platform, so if you’re planning to play it on Sony’s console, you’ll have to wait a little longer.

The game is now available as part of the EA’s Play First Trials that exclusive to subscribers. As part of the trial, players will have a time-limit of 10 hours to play the game’s campaign missions and various multiplayer modes. If you actually enjoyed playing the game, you can purchase the game with a 10% discount that’s exclusive to Origin/EA Access users. However, if you’re a PS4 user, you can simply purchase the Star Wars: Battlefront II Elite Trooper edition that’s priced at $10 over the Standard Edition to access the full game 3 days before the actual release without any time limitations. It’s worth noting that the Elite Trooper edition is available across all the three platforms.

Thanks to its open-source nature, the amount of stuff you can do with Android is downright amazing. You can install custom ROMs, and even use an Android phone to boot Linux on PC. That said, Android has numerous productivity enhancing features, but USB OTG is surely one of the most useful of them all.

Put simply, USB OTG (short for On-The-Go) enables an Android device to act as a “USB host”, enabling it to power and control other USB peripherals such as keyboards/mice, game controllers, and much more. There are many ways in which you can use USB OTG to enhance the functionality of your Android phone. But before even doing that, how do you find out whether your Android phone supports USB OTG in the first place?

If you haven’t guessed it by now, that’s what we’re here to help you with. So without further ado, here’s a lowdown on how to check USB OTG support for your Android phone.

How to check USB OTG support for your Android phone?

You can use Easy OTG Checker, a simple app to check whether your phone supports USB OTG or not. Here’s how:

Step 1: Install and fire up Easy OTG Checker, and connect a USB OTG device (e.g. SanDisk Ultra USB OTG) to the phone. Now, tap the “question mark” button.

Step 2: Easy OTG Checker will take a few seconds to check your Android phone’s USB OTG compatibility, and then display the result. Apart from that, the app also displays system information such as the device’s make/model, and Android version. Here’s the result, as displayed on a USB OTG supported Android device:

And here’s the result, as shown on a non USB OTG compatible device:

That’s all there’s to it. Can’t get any simpler than that, right?

Other noteworthy points:

• If your Android phone’s retail box has the USB OTG logo (see below), it supports USB OTG.

• Another simple method to check your Android phone’s USB OTG compatibility is to connect a USB OTG device to it. If the same is detected and you get a notification/confirmation prompt on the device, your Android phone supports USB OTG.

What to do if your Android phone doesn’t support USB OTG?

Even though majority of the newer Android phones support USB OTG out of the box, there are chances that your Android device doesn’t. And since USB OTG capability depends on various factors (e.g. Android/Kernel version, availability of USB OTG drivers, hardware support), the procedure to get USB OTG working on non-compatible devices differs based on different devices (and even different variants of the same device).

That said, in all cases, you’ll need to Root your Android phone (using applications such as Kingo Android Root) first. After that, you can use apps like USB OTG Helper and StickMount to access devices connected via USB OTG (Do note that these apps only work for USB Flash Drives).

List of Smartphones and Tablets that support OTG

List of Mobile Phones Supported OTG  function*
Brand Name	Model Name
iBall	Andi 5.9M Cobalt Plate
iBall	Andi 5K Panther
iBall	Andi 5F Infinito
iBall	Andi 4.5 Enigma
iBall	Andi 4.7G Cobalt
Samsung	Galaxy Note4
Samsung	Galaxy S5 Plus
Samsung	Galaxy S5 Sport
Samsung	Galaxy S5 LTE-A G901F / G906S
Samsung	Galaxy S5
Samsung	Galaxy K/S5 Zoom
Samsung	Galaxy S5 Octa-Core
Samsung	Galaxy S5 G9009FD
Samsung	Galaxy S5 CDMA
Samsung	Galaxy S5 Active
Samsung	Galaxy S5 Duos
Samsung	Galaxy S4 I9500
Samsung	Galaxy S4 I9505
Samsung	Galaxy S4 zoom
Samsung	Galaxy S4 Active I9295
Samsung	Galaxy S4 I9506
Samsung	Galaxy S4 Active LTE-A
Samsung	Galaxy S4 I9502
Samsung	Galaxy S4 CDMA
Samsung	Galaxy S III I9300
Samsung	Galaxy S III I9305
Samsung	Galaxy S III I747
Samsung	Galaxy S III T999
Samsung	Galaxy S III CDMA
Samsung	Galaxy S II I9100G
Samsung	Galaxy S II HD LTE
Samsung	Galaxy S II Duos I929
Samsung	Galaxy S II T989
Samsung	Galaxy S II I9100
Samsung	Galaxy S II I777
Samsung	Galaxy S II LTE I9210
Samsung	Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch
Samsung	Galaxy S II 4G I9100M
Samsung	Galaxy S II X T989D
Samsung	Galaxy Note lll N9000
Samsung	Galaxy Note ll N7100
Samsung	Galaxy Note N7000
Samsung	Galaxy Note I717
Samsung	Galaxy Note T879
Samsung	Galaxy Ace3 S7270
Samsung	Galaxy Ace S5830i
Samsung	Galaxy Nexus I9250
Samsung	Galaxy Mega 6.3 I9200
Samsung	Galaxy J
Samsung	Galaxy F
Sony	Xperia Z3
Sony	Xoeria Z3 Compact
Sony	Xperia Z2A
Sony	Xperia Z2
Sony	Xperia Z1
Sony	Xperia Z1 Compact
Sony	Xperia Z1S
Sony	Xperia Z
Sony	Xperia Z Ultra
Sony	Xperia ZL
Sony	Xperia ZR
Sony	Xperia M
Sony	Xperia M2
Sony	Xperia M2 Aqua
Sony	Xperia E3
Sony	Xperia E3 Dual
Sony	Xperia M2 Dual
Sony	Xperia U
Sony	Xperia S
Sony	Xperia P
Sony	Xperia Miro
Sony	Xperia Go
Sony	Xperia T
Sony	Xperia SL
Sony	Xperia ion LTE
Sony	Xperia LT29i Hayabusa
Sony	Xperia Acro S
Sony	Sony Ericson Xperia Arc S
Sony	Sony Xperia Neo V
Sony	Xperia J
Sony	Xperia Sola
Sony	Xperia SP
Sony	Xperia TX
Sony	Xperia V
Lenovo	Lenovo P780
Lenovo	Lenovo K900
Lenovo	Lenovo Vibe X S960
HTC	One M8
HTC	One
HTC	One (M8) Dual Sim
HTC	One X
HTC	One X+
HTC	One Mini
HTC	One Max
HTC	One (M8) CDMA
HTC	Desire 500
HTC	Desire 601
HTC	Desire 600
HTC	Desire 700
HTC	Desire 700 Dual Sim
HTC	One M8 Prima
HTC	Desire X
HTC	Desire U
HTC	HTC J
HTC	Butterfly
HTC	Butterfly S
Micromax	A110Q Canvas 2 Plus
Micromax	A116 Canvas HD
Micromax	A110 Canvas 2
LG	Nexus 5
LG	G Flex
LG	G Pro 2
LG	G2
LG	G3
LG	G3 (CDMA)
LG	G3 LTE-A
LG	Vu 3 F300L
LG	Optimus G Pro
LG	Optimus G Pro lite
LG	Optimus G2
Karbonn	Titanium X
Karbonn	Karbonn Titanium Hexa
BlackBerry	BlackBerry Z30
Gionee	Elife S5.5
Gionee	Elife E7
Xiaomi	MI-4
Xiaomi	MI-3
Xiaomi	MI-2
Xiaomi	MI-2S
Xiaomi	MI-2A
Xiaomi	Redmi Note
Xiaomi	Redmi Note 4G
Xiaomi	Hongmi 1S
Xiaomi	Hongmi
Xolo	Play 8X-1100
Xolo	Play 8X-1200
Xolo	Play 6X-1000
Xolo	Q2100
Xolo	Q3000
Xolo	Q2000
Xolo	Q1000 Opus
Xolo	Q700
Xolo	Q700i
Xolo	Q700S Plus
Huawei	Ascend P7 Sapphire Edition
Huawei	Ascend P7
Huawei	Ascend P7 mini
Huawei	Ascend P6
Huawei	Ascend P6 S
Huawei	Ascend P1
Huawei	Ascend Mate7
Huawei	Ascend Mate2 4G
Huawei	Ascend G7
Huawei	Ascend Honor 3
Huawei	Ascend D1
Huawei	Ascend D1 XL U9500E
Huawei	Ascend D quad
Oppo	Oppo R5
Oppo	Oppo N3
Oppo	Oppo Neo 5
Oppo	Oppo Neo 3
Oppo	Oppo N1 mini
Oppo	Oppo N1
Oppo	Oppo Find7
Oppo	Oppo Find7a
Lava	Lris Pro 30+
Spice	Mi-502 Smartflo Pace2
Spice	Mi-535 Stellar Pinnacle Pro
Spice	Mi-530 Stellar Pinnacle
List of Tablets Supported OTG  function*
iBall	i5715
iBall	6309i
iBall	6309r
iBall	6318i
iBall	i6516
iBall	2G7227
iBall	2G7236
iBall	7236 3G 17
iBall	3G7271
iBall	3G7271 HD7
iBall	3G 7271 HD70
iBall	3GQ7271-IPS20
iBall	3G7334i
iBall	3G 7345 Q800
iBall	6351 Q-40
iBall	3G 6095 D-20
iBall	3G 6095 Q700
iBall	3G Q7218
iBall	3G 7830 Q900
iBall	3G 8072
iBall	3G WQ32
iBall	i9018
iBall	i9702
iBall	3G 9017 D50
iBall	Q9703
iBall	3G 9728
iBall	i1017
iBall	3GQ1035
iBall	3G1035 Q90
iBall	3G 1026 Q-18
iBall	3G WQ149
iBall	3G WQ149R
iBall	3G WQ149i
iBall	Brace X1
Nokia	N810
Samsung	Note 8.0 N5100
Samsung	Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition)
Samsung	Galaxy Tab 2.7.0 i705
Sony	Tablet S 3G
Lenovo	IdeaTab A1000
Lenovo	IdeaTab A3000
Lenovo	IdeaTab S5000
Lenovo	IdeaTab S6000
Lenovo	IdeaTab S6000L
Lenovo	IdeaTab S6000F
Lenovo	IdeaTab S6000H
Lenovo	Yoga Tablet 10 HD+
Lenovo	Yoga Tablet 2 10.1
Lenovo	Yoga Tablet 2 8.0
Lenovo	Yoga Tablet 8
Lenovo	Yoga Tablet 10
LG	G Pad 7.0
LG	G Pad 10.1
Accer	Iconia Tab A3
Accer	Iconia Tab A200
Accer	Iconia Tab A210
Asus	Transformer Pad TF103C
Alcatel	One Touch Evo 8HD
Huawei	MediaPad 7 Lite
Huawei	MediaPad
Huawei	MediaPad S7-301w
Xolo	Play Tegra Note
Xiaomi	Mi Pad 7.9
Toshiba	Excite 10 AT305

Note: The list might not have some of the latest smartphones that support OTG. Please use above mentioned methods to verify or check manufacturers website before buying.

Use USB OTG to get more from your Android device

Needless to say, the extra functionality afforded to Android smartphone(s) with USB OTG goes a long way in maximizing their potential. And as seen above, checking whether your Android device is USB OTG compatible or not is easier than you think. So try it out, and let us know your findings in the comments below.

iOS 9 was the awakening call for Apple to make use of the extra screen real estate on the iPad and saw the introduction of two new features - Split screen multitasking and Slide Over. Split screen multitasking allows you to open two apps side-by-side simultaneously, whereas Slide Over allows you to interact with another app without leaving the current app by a screen swipe gesture. Both these features work with a limited number of iPad models and iPhone users were not even invited to the party. So, if you’ve wanted the feature on your iPhone, I’ll show you how you can get Split Screen multitasking on your iPhone:

Note: This procedure requires you to have a Jailbroken iPhone, so if you haven’t already, head to our guide on how to Jailbreak iOS 10.2

Install Gorgone from Cydia

• Open Cydia on your iPhone and search for “Gorgone” in the Search tab. Because this tweak is hosted on BigBoss repo and it is added by default in Cydia, you do not need to add any other custom Source.

• Tap “Install” > “Confirm“.

• Tap on “Restart SpringBoard” to complete the installation process.

Your device will restart in a few seconds and Gorgone should be installed successfully at this point.

Then, take a minute to configure Gorgone’s settings. Head over to “Settings” > “Gorgone” and turn on “Enable Rotation“. This enables rotations in most of the apps and on the home screen.

The second option, “Enable Lock Screen rotation” is for iOS 9 only and doesn’t work on iOS 10 right now.

How to Use Split Screen Multitasking on iPhone

Inside any app, swipe left from the middle-right edge of the screen. This will bring up all the installed applications on your iPhone.

Tapping on any one of them slides it over and gains focus. This works exactly like iPad’s Slide Over feature. You can interact with another app, without leaving the current app. You can just swipe back to switch to the previous app when you’re done.

This is particularly useful when say, you’re inside an app and need to search the web in a jiffy. You can make a web search using Safari (or any other web browser for iPhone) without leaving the current app and quickly return to the app with a simple swipe.

To access Split screen mode, rotate your iPhone to enter landscape mode. Inside any app, swipe left from the middle-right edge of the screen to enter Slide Over mode. Pick the app you want to open from the list. Tapping on the small drag bar will now put the apps side-by-side and you can use both of them simultaneously.

Swiping down from the top white drag bar will bring back the list of installed apps.

To exit Split screen mode, just slide away the app using the drag bar in the middle of both the apps.

I did not encounter any bugs on my Jailbroken iPhone 6 while using Gorgone. The only thing that bugs me is that it enables rotation across all installed apps. While this may be a boon for some, it makes some apps look just..terrible. Hopefully, we’ll get an option to disable rotation for some specific apps in future releases. Other than this minor issue, Gorgone is pretty rock solid.

If you need to disable Gorgone temporarily, you can just tap “Disable“, or if you no longer require it, consider uninstalling it from Cydia.

Split Screen Multitasking On iPhone Using Gorgone

Thanks to Gorgone, iPhone users can enjoy one of the greatest features of the iPad on their iPhone, the easy way. This can save you a lot of time if you find yourself constantly switching to and fro between multiple apps. Fellow users, how do you unleash the potential of split-screen multitasking to enhance your productivity? Let me know in the comments section below.

When Xiaomi announced the Mi Box, it was expected to launch with Android Nougat. While that didn’t happen, it was expected that there will soon be an OTA update available for the Android TV box. Now, finally, some users have been seeing beta versions of Nougat being pushed to their Android TVs. So, if you haven’t received any notification regarding Android Nougat for your Mi Box, don’t fret. In this article I’ll tell you how you can sideload the file, and update the Mi Box to Android Nougat:

Install Nougat on Mi Box

The update file that brings Android Nougat to the Mi Box is fortunately available for downloading freely. Before you can update your Mi Box, you’ll first have to download the “update.zip” file from here, and then copy it to a USB thumb drive. Once you’ve done that, you can proceed to installing the update on your Mi Box. Just follow the steps given below:

• First, turn the Mi Box on, and plug in the USB drive. Once the Mi Box detects the drive has having been plugged in, disconnect the Mi Box from power.

• Next, on the Mi Box Remote, press and hold the “Back”, and “Ok” buttons, and then connect the Mi Box to power.

• The Mi Box will boot into recovery mode. In the menu, use the remote to select the option that says “Apply Update from EXT“.

• Then, select “Update from udisk“.

• You will be able to see all the files inside the USB thumb drive, just select “update.zip”

• Mi Box will then start installing the update.

• Once the update has been installed, just select “Reboot system now“.

Changes in Android Nougat

When your Mi Box starts up, you’ll be running Android Nougat. Since this is not the stable release, there may be some bugs and issues. However, there have been no reports of anything major being broken. There aren’t even a lot of changes in this version of the beta build of Android Nougat for the Mi Box. Here are a couple of the changes you’ll see:

• The Settings Page has been revamped, and now follows the style that Android Nougat brought to mobile devices. However, it doesn’t make good use of the screen real estate on a large screen TV, which is weird. Maybe they’ll fix it in the upcoming builds.

• Users now have the option to customize HDMI-CEC settings from the Settings page.

• Live Channels also get Picture-in-Picture mode with the new update.

Things Not Working in Android Nougat TV Beta:

• HDR is not working in Netflix.

• Automatic refresh rate switching doesn’t work, either.

Easily Update your Mi Box to Android Nougat

If you’re like me, and you just can’t wait to lay your hands on the latest updates, you probably don’t want to wait for installing the update on your Mi Box. Well, with these instructions you can easily install the beta build of Android Nougat on your Mi Box, and get to exploring all the new features of the (yet) unreleased Android Nougat for Xiaomi Mi Box. There are quite a bit of new things to explore, but there are some bugs as well, so make sure you know what you’re doing before you get to installing beta builds on your Mi Box.

So, have you updated your Mi Box to Android Nougat yet? Are you going to sideload the update file, or are you waiting for an official release of Android Nougat? Also, let us know about your thoughts on the new beta build of Android Nougat for the Mi Box, in the comments section below.

If you’re an Instagram user, chances are, your profile is full of users that you no longer wish to follow. While the official Instagram apps are great, they lack the ability to allow a user to mass unfollow multiple people at once. Instead, you are required to unfollow each user individually. That in itself is a very time-consuming task and something that most of us would rather avoid. But what if there was a way to unfollow multiple users with just a few taps? Well, thankfully, there is. If you’re looking for a way to unfollow multiple unwanted users at once, here are the ways to to mass unfollow users on Instagram on Android and iOS:

There are a number of apps on the iOS App Store and the Play Store that claim to let you mass unfollow people on Instagram with ease. However, my favorite app to mass unfollow on Instgram is InstaClean. Here are the steps to mass unfollow people in Instagram on iOS using InstaClean:

Mass Unfollow Users in Instagram on iPhone/iPad

• Download the InstaClean free app from here and open it. Once you’ve opened the app, tap on the “Login with Instagram” option. A new window will open, where you’ll be required to enter your Instagram credentials. Once you’re through with that, tap on “Log in” to continue.

• Once you’re inside the app, you’ll be presented with a list of users that you’re currently following. Simply tap on the profile icon of the person(s) you wish to unfollow to select them. Once you’re done selecting, tap the “tick” icon in the top right to open the options menu. Select “Unfollow” from the list of options.

• The app will now ask for your confirmation on unfollowing the users. Tap on “Unfollow” to continue.

• The app will now proceed with unfollowing all the selected users from your Instagram account. Once it has completed the task, you will be presented with a list of the users you’re left following with. In my case, I selected everyone from my list, and hence, I was left with a blank screen.

While the app works great, it is worth mentioning the fact that in the free version of the app, you’re limited to just 50 actions. To unlock more actions, you will have to purchase the app which will cost you a one-time fee of $2.99.

Mass Unfollow Users in Instagram on Android

• Download the InstaClean app from here and open it. Upon opening the app, you’ll be required to log in to your Instagram account. Enter your credentials and tap the “Sign in” button to continue.

• Once you’ve logged in, you’ll be presented with a list of all the users that you’re following. Simply check the checkbox next to each user to select them. Once you’re done with the selection process, tap the “tick” icon in the top-right corner of the screen to unfollow them.

• After you’ve pressed the tick icon, the app will proceed with unfollowing all the selected users. Once it is finished, the main screen will refresh, showing the list of user left that you are following.

As compared to the iOS version, InstaClean on Android is completely free for unlimited usage.

Mass Unfollow on Instagram with Ease

If your feed is full of people whom you don’t wish to follow any more, individually selecting each one can be a very tedious task. As such, the above-mentioned apps should come in handy to help you easily mass unfollow users on your Instagram. Tell us about your experiences with the Instagram app and how these apps helped you get rid of those unwanted posts on your feed in the comments section below.